The Value of Veterans

Castellano, Stephanie, Talent Development

Will common misconceptions about veterans prevent your organization from capitalizing on valuable talent?

As part of the U.S. Army's Hire a Veteran campaign, the Army recently partnered with the Society for Human Resource Management to conduct a research study on veteran employment. The results indicate that assumptions about veterans often influence employers' hiring decisions -- and not always in the veterans' favor.

The study finds three employer concerns that may prevent them from hiring veterans: the impact of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) on job performance, the cost of reasonable accommodations for disabled veterans, and the transfer of military skills to the civilian workplace. When asked whether workers with PTSD or TBI were more likely to have violent outbursts in the workplace, and whether it was costly to accommodate these workers, more than half of respondents say they don't know.

Informed by the study's results, the Hire a Veteran campaign focuses on dispelling the negative assumptions about veterans in civilian work settings. Despite evidence that employers are actively interested in hiring veterans, there is a clear need to educate employers about the issues they indicate are sources of concern.

The campaign's first stop is to debunk the misconception surrounding servicerelated disabilities such as PTSD and TBI. …

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